On Our Radar

On Our Radar

Why Women Make Better Bosses

Women make better bosses. That’s the finding of a new survey, which found that women in management positions lead in a more democratic way, allow employees to participate in decision-making and establish interpersonal channels of communication.

Continue Reading Below

"In line with known gender differences in individual leadership, we find that in workplaces with more women managers, more individualized employee feedback is carried out,” Eduardo Melero, study author and a professor in the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid department of business administration, said. "Likewise, we can see evidence, although weaker, that in these workplace decisions are made more democratically and more interpersonal channels of communications are established."

Those interpersonal channels of communication facilitated increased communication between management and employees in companies with women in management positions. This has a twofold benefit for these organizations. First, these companies are able to make more well-informed decisions, since employee feedback will be utilized in the decision-making process. Additionally, employees will also have the feeling of contributing to and having their opinions heard at work.

"Women managers seem to be more inclined to use these types of practices, individually, as well as promoting them among the rest of the management team," Melero said. "And as such, a management team with more women could be more effective (keeping all other factors constant) when implementing them."

The research, which is published in the Journal of Business Research, was based on data from the Workplace Employment Relationships Survey, a survey of workplaces in the United Kingdom. Melero analyzed this data by looking at the number of women in management positions in companies and the leadership tactics employed at those companies.